U.S. must continue push for a diplomatic solution

The longer the fighting continues, the more it will weaken Lebanon's central government. And that is not in Israel's or the U.S. interests.

Hezbollah overplayed its hand when it kidnapped two Israeli soldiers.
The act of aggression triggered Israel's military action that finds
Israeli tanks and soldiers in southern Lebanon. The terrorist
organization may not have anticipated this action, but the kidnappings
made clear that allowing Hezbollah to remain a threat to Israel's
northern border simply couldn't be tolerated.

The Bush administration gave its tacit approval to the Israeli
advance into southern Lebanon, with the goal of reducing the Hezbollah
military threat. The missiles fired at Israeli targets, with longer
ranges than previously known, have shown how real that threat is.
Israel retaliated with aerial bombings and artillery shellings,
followed by land forces.

But every shell that falls in Lebanon weakens an already weak
Lebanese central government. Having a weak and ruined Lebanon to its
north does little for Israel's national security. A strong, democratic
Lebanon is the best guarantee of Israeli security, which means that the
best long-term solution is a diplomatic one.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice attended a daylong summit in
Rome Wednesday trying to balance out the two goals of giving the
Israeli army time to pound the Hezbollah positions, but realizing that
the longer the fighting goes on the more world opinion turns on Israel.
European, Arab and U.S. officials failed in Rome to agree on an
immediate plan to halt the fighting, but the diplomatic effort goes
on.

The Israeli offense may be able to push Hezbollah out of missile
range, but it can't wipe out Hezbollah's presence in Lebanon. It is as
much a political organization as a terrorist outfit. It holds seats in
the parliament and its armed forces are believed to be stronger than
the Lebanese army. Hezbollah has wide support among the Shiite
population, which is about 45 percent of Lebanon.

The United States has to commit itself to help rebuild Lebanon's
infrastructure and deliver humanitarian aid. The U.S. must engage with
Sunni Arab governments who see Hezbollah fanaticism as much a threat to
their own stability as to Lebanon's. And it must place a diplomatic
solution for the crisis as a priority above a military solution. Two
weeks of fighting have shown how limited, and how bloody, that solution
is.